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Japan 2-0 Germany
Ryosei Kobayashi 3-0 Felix Auer 11/4, 11/9, 11/5
Tomotaka Endo 3-0 Lucas Wirths 11/4, 11/9, 11/2
Taiki Kaido v Andre Ergenz
Japanese run continues
 Japan
exceeded their wildest expectations as the reached the
quarter-finals with a 2-0 win over Germany, who like Japan upset
the seedings last night to claim an unexpected place in the last
twelve playoffs.
 Japan’s
win was secured by two 3-0 wins for Ryosei Koyayashi and
Tomotaka Endo - the same two players who secured the win over
Colombia last night, but today it was Endo’s turn to deliver the
finishing blow.
Kobayashi was always ahead in his match against Felix Auer, but
Endo’s comeback from 7/3 down in the second against Lucas Wirths
proved decisive.
 “We’re
very happy with our performances today,” said a delighted duo
after the match.
“We knew that we probably had to win our matches yesterday and
today, and we managed to do that.
“This is the best result Japan has ever had at these
championships so we’re delighted. We play Pakistan next which
will be a very tough match, but we’ll try to do our best."
 "We
are happy to end up top 12 definitely.
Yesterday we had a great
win over Australia, but against Japan today, they truly deserved
to win, they were a better team.
"We are a bit disappointed, but not too much really, they were
too strong for us.
"We have quite a young team, and they are having a great time in
Doha. I can see them improving every day, they are very keen,
that’s good to see.
"They maybe didn’t have their best matches during their
individuals, but they certainly focused for the teams, they kept
their best squash for that, and I’m happy with that."
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[10] Canada 2-0 Brazil
Cameron Seth 3-0 Josemar Silva 14/12, 11/9, 11/6 (41m)
Zac Leman 3-0 Cassiano Silva 11/1, 11/5, 11/2 (19m)
Tyler Olsen v Pedro Veiga
Canadians end Brazilian run
 Canada
reached the quarter-finals with a 2-0 win over surprise opponents Brazil as
Cameron Seth and Zac Leman posted straight-game wins on the glass court at
the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash complex.
Seth didn’t make the best of starts though, as he found himself 10-3 down in
the first game.
Saving 8 game balls he took the lead 14/12, got the better of a close second
game before easing through the third.
Leman was relatively untroubled as he won in 19 minutes to put Canada
through to meet top seeds and defending champions Egypt.
 “That
was good!
"That 10-3 was a big game to win, Seth came through that with consistent
play. We knew his opponent had had a hard match last night, so making that
game hard, win or lose, was important.
“We were confident of winning at three so for Seth to win the first match
gave us a big boost.
"We know their number two is a good player so we were grateful it didn’t go
to a decider.
“We’re very happy to be in the top eight, especially with the strength of
the teams who are here this year.”
"I was a bit lucky there to take the first, he hit a few tins while I
started to find my length and cut out my own errors.
"It was close in the second too, but a few lucky calls and bounces went my
way, and I think he got a bit tired in the third."
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 As we were seeded 5, the pressure was on us, and I certainly could see that
it affected our number 1 player, in the sense that he was unable to keep his
opponent behind him, and kept been under pressure at the front.
Only in the last point was he able to actually put him behind him, and score
a few crucial points. He was not confident enough today, but it was a great
match, and he knew he had to win it, had he lost, the pressure on the rest
of the team would have been tremendous. And our number 2 also did his best.
It’s a good day, but we are taking match per match, step by step. Tomorrow,
we’ll be playing India, and they will be the favourite, on them the
pressure. We’ll just try and do our best…
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[5] Hong Kong 2-0 [11] New
Zealand
Cheuk Yan Tang 3-2 Jonathan Barnett 11/8, 5/11, 11/9,
8/11, 11/9
Yeung Ho Wai 3-0 Todd Redman 11/4, 11/2, 11/2
Yip Tsz Fung v Zac Miller
HONG KONG, BUT ONLY JUST
 While
USA was battling on against Kuwait, on the next court, New
Zealand was trying their best to upset Hong Kong.
And they nearly did.
Jonathan Barnett played an extremely high standard match today
against Cheuk Yan Tang that nearly reached 80m, and had the
whole of a large audience at the edge of their seats.
Barnett started well in the first game, 4/1, although both
players were a bit nervous and making a few errors a bit too
soon. Back at 5/5, they both settled, and the real match
started. HK went up 9/5, but only takes the game 11/8.
In the second, NZ starts again very well, 5/1, but this time,
keeps the lead the whole way, 11/5, one game all…
 The
third starts with a massive rally, I mean realllly massive. And
for the whole game, those two will play at catch up game. 3/1
HK, 3/3. 5/3 HK. 5/5. 9/5 NZ. 9/9. But it’s HK that finally
takes it, 11/9.
At 4/1 in the 4th, leading 2/1 up, the HK boy looks bleeping
good, but the NZ, digging in big time and score 8 points in a
row! Game ball 10/6 NZ. But it’s HK turn now to claw back, up to
8/10. But finally, NZ equalises at 2/2, 11/8.
And the 5th, well, another catch up game. 5/0 for HK, 5/5. 7/5
for HK. 7/7. At that point in time we have past the 70mn. 8/8.
9/9. The atmosphere is like only what teams event can bring,
amazingly warm and noisy! Two very quick points from HK, and NZ
bows, but only just…
The second legs (number 3s), was not as close score wise, and
can even looked harsh, 11/4, 11/2, 11/2. But the battle that
went on, even ineluctable, was a hard and heavy one, with the
Todd never letting one rally go against PickingUpEverythingHo
Wai….
 In
our first match, our number 1, well, Johnny played the match of
his life, when he was behind, he kept digging, he gave himself a
chance to win, and at 9/9 in the 5th, it’s anybody’s match… He
felt short in the last two rallies of the match, unlucky, but
there nothing to be disappointed about.
And we thought we could have a chance at number 3, but that HK
guy, he just kept on retrieving everything, everything just came
back, it’s not that Todd did anything wrong… Actually, for such
a clinical score, 4, 2, 2, the match is nearly 40m. That says
how hard they both worked today.
We cannot be disappointed with the overall result, we had a
great win yesterday against South Africa, all the matches went
to 5, and now, 9 is our target….
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[6] USA 2-0 [12] Kuwait
Dylan Murray 3-1 Yousef Saleh 11/13, 11/5, 11/9, 11/7
TJ Dembinsk 3-0 Athbi Hamad 12/10, 11/6, 11/6 (23m)
Edward Columbia v Yousif Ali
USA, USA, USA….
 The
first match was the one everybody want to see. The “Flying American”,
against “The Dog”, as his team mates call him, in honour of his “lever let
go of a bone” ability…. And the match did fulfil all its promises….
The first game was as massive as it comes, with long and gruelling rallies
from the start, 5/2 up for KW, who makes a few too many errors, and US
catches up at 6/6. The battle is ragging on there, such a high quality
match, 7/7, 8/8, and it’s KW that gets the game balls in this opener, at
10/8, 10/9, 11/10, and finally at 12/11, to finish the game 13/11.
Dylan, who normally wait at last the third game to put his funny hair band
preventing his hair to spoil his vision, is coming back in the second game
with it. The war is now on!!!! And the hair band does the trick. US takes
the game on the double, so many volley drop shots, and far too many errors
from KW.
In my eyes, the 3rd is the turning point. After a balanced 4/4, Dylan is
forced to dig in quite deeply, his vocal exertions are a proof that he is
giving everything he has on there, and Yousef is not having a restful time
either!
Making the court as big as they can for their opponent, covering a heck of a
lot of ground, both players are offering their country a stunning
performance. But US gets the first game ball at 10/6. Looking good, doesn’t
it. Still, KW won’t have any of it. And here we go again, 7/10. 8/10. 9/10.
Are we on for a tie-break? Na. Dylan, feeling that’s business time now,
clinches it, 11/9.
The last game will be as disputed as the previous one, but Yousef is now
really digging into his energy reserves, making too many errors, while
Fitness-Incarnated Dylan is still flying around the court, throwing himself
all over the court, and looking, well, not fresh as a rose, let’s not push
it, but like he could do another game with not too much trouble…
 And
that is, like yesterday against France, the key factor. When you are as fit
as Dylan is, you can afford to be patient. You can keep the rallies going,
and play a not too high percentage game.
And that’s exactly what the American does in that last game. A few too many
errors coming from the courageous and dedicated Kuwaiti, but with a
crosscourt winner return of serve at 7/10, US closes out the match, 11/8,
3/1.
What a match that was. And TJ in the second leg, finished the job 3/0. He
looked a bit excited on there, a bit under pressure maybe? He is normally so
calm, not sure what was going on in his head, but, still, he takes the match
and gives the needed point to USA, who now plays England tomorrow. |
We felt that we had a 50/50 chance today against Kw. Their
number 1 player is such a strong player, he had some pretty good
results in the individuals, and really pushed a few good
players. Dylan had to play his best squash today, this boy is
going from strength to strength, match after match.
The KW boy was sharp and fast, with a wicked forehand. So we
tried and keep Dylan out of it, concentrate on the backhand, and
move his opponent as much as possible to the front and back.
Dylan was impressive today, like he was yesterday against French
Volland, and when he figures out how to keep disciplined with
his game plan, he’s achieve some great things.
Now, for TJ, I thought he was a bit excited, agitated, paying
attention to things like the ref, the court, his opponent,
instead of being focused on his squash. He got a bit lucky
today, and I thought the KW boy was trying more than he did…
Still, I cannot tell you how happy we are to get in the top 8,
our best ever finish was 7, but I seem to remember that it was a
year where only 12 teams competed in 2002 after the event was
moved to January or February. So, we are really reaching our
highest result, and we are tremendously proud of our
achievement.
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